Polis (Location)
Polis (Полис in Cyrillic) is a collection of stations, located at the heart of the Metro, and is situated below the Moscow State Library and Ministery of Defence of the Russian Federation building. It is very close to the Kremlin. Overview Polis is formed by the Arbatskaya, Alexandrovsky Sad, Biblioteka Lenina and Borovitskaya stations. Above ground is the Moscow State Library, formally known as Lenin Library. Throughout the Metro, Polis is known as a station with wealth and power. The platforms seem to have been taken up with various machinery, with near building-like structures taking the place of housing. In the novel, there is a hierarchy consisting of the Shudra, who are the servants, the Vashiya, a group of dedicated Polis merchants, Kshatriya, the former Russian Army, special forces, and Government agents who make up the defense force, and finally Brahmins, who are the pre-war scientists, teachers, and other important keepers of knowledge. Every individual in Polis decide which caste they want to enter when they turn 18. The four stations denominate the four groups and separate them. The Brahmin are known to pay great amounts for Stalkers to go to the Library to collect books. In the game Metro 2033, the hierarchy is not set into groups but instead one group, it is known as the Polis Council. Not much is known about the group apart from the fact that they either genuinely do not care much for VDNKh or the dark ones or are simply incapable of sparing resources to counter the threat. Polis is a unique city-state of the Metro. Only there do the keepers of old pre-war knowledge remain in substantial quantity. All scientific knowledge became useless for other Metro states, as they slowly descended into the abyss of chaos and ignorance. Scientists from everywhere, where their skills were useless, came to Polis. Only there could one meet elderly professors from pre-war universities, the last artists, artisans, musicians and poets, physicists, chemists, biologists, and mathematicians. All those who kept the knowledge achieved by thousands of years of human history, that may or will be lost forever as they pass away. The Library Polis is situated right under the very center of the city that was above it some time before. Nearby to Polis looms the gigantic building of Moscow State Library, the biggest information storage of the old times. After the war it was called "Great Library" and become a religious and sacred place for Polis dwellers, the rest of Metro, with respect, calls it "Library". Only Polis of all Metro powers can afford sending stalkers for books. Only there, is knowledge still valued highly enough to risk ones life to acquire it. Polis hosts smaller libraries, and the people there can afford "flats" - trash-built homes in between the station pylons or columns. The rest of Metro, aside from a few Hansa citizens, live in tents, or in even worse conditions. This may seem irrational, but because it was the last science center, it was never attacked, threatened or devastated, but rather traded with and meticulously guarded. All Metro powers were ready to defend it, were it attacked. Even the war between Hansa and Red Line did not touch Polis. Protection Because Polis is seen by many as the last hope for humanity, the last bastion and the last think-tank, it has a sizable defensive force, the details of which are modified from medium to medium. In the game, Polis is protected by a very large Ranger force. There are at least eight Rangers at the first entrance. They are also protected by the Town Guards and Militia. The protection is around the clock, and they use the most advanced equipment for their guardsmen to ensure the safety of this settlement. Also, deployed at the entrance to Polis, is a very large armored emplacement with a tank gun and quad-DShK machine guns attached to it. Similarly, in the novel Polis boasts a small, but professional military corps made up of the former FSB officers and military leadership, whose buildings were right above the stations of Polis when the war broke out. Notable Residents *Miller (Melnik) *Cpt. Krasnov *Pavel *Ulman *Danila Trivia * When Artyom and Ulman arrive in Polis, they enter the Borovitskaya station (Serpukhovsko–Timiryazevskaya Line). This location is part of an interchange point between three other stations which comprise the whole city of Polis: the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina station of the Sokolnicheskaya Line, the Arbatskaya station of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line and the Alexandrovsky Sad station of the Filyovskaya Line. * The Greek "polis" (πόλις) or "city-state" was the term coined probably by one of the station dwellers, and it was only a matter of time before it became official and stuck to the place for good. * When Artyom enters Polis in the novel, he is forced to wear sun glasses due to the bright lighting of the station. Gallery Polis_security_0001.jpg|Polis security Polis_security_0003.jpg|Polis fortifications Polis_council.jpg|The Council Polis_trainyard_0001.jpg|Polis railway platform Polis_trainyard_0002.jpg|Ditto Polis_plaques.jpg|Plaques with names of four stations that comprise Polis Polis_bar.jpg|Local bar Miller_office.jpg|Miller's office Guard.jpg|The Fourth Reich and the Red line meet at Polis. Category:Locations Category:Metro Last Light